PHILADELPHIA -- Call it the longest yard. That was what it felt like for the Temple football team at its Homecoming Game against Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field. Twice Temple lined up for a fourth-and-goal from the one yard-line and both times the Pittsburgh defense made the stop. The Panthers would later take the lead for good by converting a third-and-goal from the one en route to a 27-22 win.
The loss spoiled a career day for junior quarterback Walter Washington, who set new career marks for completions (30), attempts (44), yards passing (314), TD passes (3) and total offense (396). It also spoiled a festive day for the 19,517 fans that came out to celebrate Homecoming and the presentation of the 2004 Athletic Hall of Fame Class which featured former football great Tre' Johnson along with Mark Macon (basketball), Jane Catanzaro-Delaney (field hockey/women's lacrosse/women's basketball), Dionna Harris (softball) Bill Hyman (wrestling), Mandee (Moore) O'Leary (field hockey/women's lacrosse).
"I told the team I was proud of them today," said Temple head coach Bobby Wallace. "We talked about last week's game, how much pride we had. They came to play today and showed a lot of pride and character.
"A big factor was not scoring on the two fourth and one's. We have to get those balls in the end zone."
Things started off well for the Owls as the team marched down the field on their first possession, with Washington connecting on his second touchdown pass of the season, an eight-yarder to junior halfback Tim Brown. The drive was aided by a 15-yard personal foul penalty as a Panther defender made a late hit on Brown following a 19-yard reception.
Aided by a 52-yard kickoff return by Marcus Furman, Pitt drive to the Temple 30, but the Owl defense, playing without its All-America candidate linebacker Rian "Goo" Wallace, held strong. Josh Cummings drilled a 45-yard field goal to make it 7-3.
Wallace was suspended for one-game prior to the contest for violation of team rules. He will return to practice on Monday and will be available for the Owls' game at Rutgers (Oct. 16).
Washington directed the Owls offense all the way to the Panther one-yard line on the next possession. Looking much like Daunte Culpepper, the Temple signal caller rushed for 39 yards during the drive and completed a highlight-reel 14-yard pass to tight end Christian Dunbar while scrambling to give the Owls first-and-goal from the six yard-line. Washington connected with Umar Ferguson to the one-yard line two plays later.
On fourth-and-one Washington then handed off to Ferguson, who dove over the middle. His body appeared to cross the goal line, but the ball apparently did not as it was marked inches short. Ferguson, who had a strong game (9 carries, 55 yards), had rushed for 35 yards over that drive prior to his carry.
The Owls' defense, which featured three first-time starters in Ryan Gore (linebacker), A.J. Lindsey (defensive line), and Randy Johnson (nose guard), came up huge on the ensuing Pitt possession. On the first play of the second quarter, Eric Carpenter sacked quarterback Tyler Palko in the end zone for Temple's first safety since the 2000 season. Ironically, Palko had tried to shuffle a pass as his knee hit the ground. Temple linebacker Troy Bennett picked off that pass and ran it back for a touchdown, which was negated by the safety.
Two possessions later, the Owls would extend their lead to 16-3 on a Washington 35-yard touchdown pass to Ikey Chuku. After rushing the ball for most of the first quarter, the Daytona Beach, Fla. native used his arm on this drive, hitting Buchie Ibeh twice and Phil Goodman once on the 80-yard drive. Ibeh, who had five receptions in 2003, had a career day with seven catches for 73 yards.
Pitt utilized a trick play to setup a 33-yard Cummins field goal with 3:29 remaining in the second quarter. Halfback Marcus Furman tossed a 43-yard pass to Greg Lee to give the Panthers a first down on the Temple 12. Sophomore cornerback David Reese saved a touchdown with one of his two pass breakups in the contest on a first-down play. Then, on a third-and-nine play, Mike Mendenhall sacked Palko for a five-yard loss to stall the drive.
The key play in the game came in the third quarter for the Owls. Again with a fourth-and-goal at the one, following a nice 13-play, 79-yard drive, Temple came up short. This time it was Washington that was stopped going up the middle.
"Any time you don't get it on fourth and one it hurts," said Wallace.
The third quarter would be a quiet one after that. A prelude to an offensive final quarter, when Palko and the Pitt offense would finally came to life.
The Pitt quarterback entered the final quarter with just 99 yards passing, completing 7-of-12 attempts. He would team up with Lee, who registered career high in receptions (8) and yardage (159), four times, including a 50-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the quarter. That cut the Temple lead to 16-13.
Temple went three-and-out on their first possession of the fourth quarter and a Mike McLaughlin 31-yard punt gave the Panthers the ball back on their own 44.
Palko engineered a nine-play drive that was capped by Kirkley's one-yard TD dive off right tackle. The Panther quarterback not only accomplished this with his arm (3-3, 32 yards), but also with his legs, rushing for 16 yard gain and a first down at the Temple 26.
The Panther defense put the clamps on Washington on Temple's next possession, recording their first of three sacks in the contest. The Owls gave the ball back to the Panthers at midfield with 7:04 remaining.
Palko methodically drove the ball downfield for another Kirkley touchdown, this one a five-yard run up the middle of the Owl defense. The drive was aided by a 15-yard facemask penalty on Reese following a nine-yard reception by Lee that gave Pitt the ball on the Temple 18.
To their credit, the Owls did not give up. Washington completed nine of 15 passes to march the Temple 86 yards. His final pass of the day was a seven-yard touchdown to Phil Goodman, cutting the Panther lead to 27-22. Unfortunately the drive left just 15 seconds on the clock, and the Owls' two-point conversion attempt failed.
Temple (1-5, 0-1 Big East) next travels to Rutgers for an October 16 game at noon. That contest will be an ESPN Regional production and will be televised in the Delaware Valley on WB 17. Pitt improves to 3-2, 1-1 in conference play.
Temple Game Notables Versus Pittsburgh:
Junior QB Walter Washington set career highs in completions (30), attempts (44), yards passing (314), TD passes (3) and total offense (396 yards). It marked his fifth career game with over 300 yards of total offense. Washington rushed for 82 yards on 23 attempts while engineering touchdown scoring drives of 79, 80 and 86 yards. He completed passes to eight different receivers.
Senior DT Eric Carpenter sacked Pittsburgh QB Tyler Palko in the end zone in the second quarter to give Temple a 9-3 lead. It marked the Owls' first safety since 2000, when Temple blocked a punt out of the end zone for a team safety versus Syracuse at Veterans Stadium.
Senior WR Buchie Ibeh, seeing his first action since suffering a high ankle sprain at Maryland, made a career-high seven catches for a career-best 73 yards.
Senior LB Troy Bennett, who entered the game ranked second in the Big East in tackles, posted 10 stops for his third double-digit tackle game this season. Bennett also had one TFL and a QBH. Bennett's high school teammate, junior DE Mike Mendenhall, made a career-high 3.5 TFLs for 10 yards and a career-best tying seven stops (three solo). Mendenhall also had a sack for five yards on a third down play from the Temple 11-yard line to force a Pitt FG. Another TFL came on a 3rd and three to force a UP punt from its seven yard line.
Temple had three players on defense make first career starts: sophomore Ryan Gore (SLB), junior Randy Johnson (NT) and junior A.J. Lindsay (DT).
Temple had a season-high 83 total offensive plays, its most since posting 84 total plays at Louisville (9/27/03) last season. The Owls also had a season-best 27 first downs, their most since having 27 versus the Cardinals last year.
